High sided off a bridge

Thought I would post the pictures from the crash I had a few years ago. This happened July 1st, 2000.

It was a Saturday morning and I was coming home from the grounds keeper job I had at a golf course. The area in downtown Milwaukee that it happened is prone to stopped traffic during rush hour, the guess is that I probably hit a patch of oil or antifreeze. I over corrected the low side and consequently high sided at approximately 60 miles per hour. I hit the arrow sign across the lower back and broke the metal pole in half, then flew the 35 feet down and about 90 or 100 feet horizontally. I landed basically on my head and shoulder, broke a collarbone, couple of ribs, compound fractured left arm, smashed hip, broken pelvis, ruptured spleen, perforated colon, and pulled a nerve out of one of my vertebrae, losing the use of my left shoulder and bicep muscles. The hospital stay was a month with about six days in ICU in two different stretches, three days right away, then three days after they realized I had a perforated colon and had gotten peritonitis (basically an infection of the sack that all your internal organs are in). I was admitted at 190 lbs, when I got out a month later I weighed approximately 125 lbs.

The pictures are real, taken by three strangers behind me that were also on bikes. There is no way for them to get down to where I was so all they could do was call the cops and yell at me to stop writhing around.

The before:

My baby still up on the highway:

Literally 30 seconds after I hit the ground:

The first responders, would love to know what the conversation was at this point:

The ambulance shortly after:

From the parking lot:

A couple views of the flight:

The day I had the awesome torture devices removed:

Close up of the zipper:

Happy to be free of them and looking good at about 130 lbs.:

It took a few years but I'm back on the bike and with some amazing new friends from advrider. That single moment had the most impact of any in my adult life. It is still the worst and best thing that has ever happened to me. With out it my life wouldn't be what it is now, and I have no complaints with how things turned out. It taught me that I have the strength to overcome anything and that everyday needs to be lived to the fullest. It made me realize that life is about experiences, positive and negative, and how you negotiate through those experiences to come out stronger on the other end. I hope other advers can look at these pictures and realize that the obstacles in their lives can only hold them back if they let them, and that the adventure we are all looking for is worth it. Those two wheels have the ability to take us places we could never imagine.

Anybody who survives a launch and landing like that must have a reason to still be here. Ive had some show stoppers in my riding career but Nothing remotely like that. I recently hit a cow at 50+ while passing a truck on a dirt road,flew 60 feet with the bike flipping along with me,eventually got up and limped away and rode the next day.
Rather then making me timid of riding it made me realize the importance of getting out and going while you can.
Security is a falsehood,anybody can check out at any second,doesnt matter how many layers of top dollar insurance you buy,or how many millions you make,we all go the same way.

Glad you are ok; seems to me the odds of a human coming out of an accident like that alive would be extremely low.

Did you get back the use of your shoulder and bicep?

Thanks for sharing, an important reminder to all of us about the fragility of life. We're on a razor's edge every day and don't realize it most days.

All the best...

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I had a nerve transplant surgery four months after the accident. They took a sensation nerve out of my left calve and split 30% of the nerves from my pec and latismus and rerouted it to my bicep. I regained about 60% strength in my left bicep but will always have limited shoulder motion. As tytek pointed out the human body is incredibly resilient, muscles that used to only pull learn to push, I still work with my hands for a living, and do my best not to let that little detail impact my life.

Thanks for the comments, it's good to have fellow riders remind me, as footdragger put it, not to waste it.

SVFlyer wrote:"It took a few years but I'm back on the bike and with some amazing new friends from advrider. That single moment had the most impact of any in my adult life. It is still the worst and best thing that has ever happened to me. With out it my life wouldn't be what it is now, and I have no complaints with how things turned out. It taught me that I have the strength to overcome anything and that everyday needs to be lived to the fullest. It made me realize that life is about experiences, positive and negative, and how you negotiate through those experiences to come out stronger on the other end. I hope other advers can look at these pictures and realize that the obstacles in their lives can only hold them back if they let them, and that the adventure we are all looking for is worth it. Those two wheels have the ability to take us places we could never imagine."

I was already in somewhat of a funk about riding, wondering if it is all worth it when I received news today of yet another riding pal who just had a major crash.

2011 has not been a good riding year for my extended riding family. Two riding pals killed, a third (my best friend) seriously injured, then today I found out about a 4th riding aquaintance who is (currently) paralyzed from the chest down. All four of these in separate wrecks spanning from April to last week.

Feeling more than a bit down-trodden since my best friends wreck in August, I've been going back and forth between "this is my life" and "sell it all and take up knitting" ever since.

Then I stumbled onto your post. Your words are very timely and encouraging to me, maybe they will be to others as well. Thank you for sharing.

I had a nerve transplant surgery four months after the accident. They took a sensation nerve out of my left calve and split 30% of the nerves from my pec and latismus and rerouted it to my bicep. I regained about 60% strength in my left bicep but will always have limited shoulder motion. As tytek pointed out the human body is incredibly resilient, muscles that used to only pull learn to push, I still work with my hands for a living, and do my best not to let that little detail impact my life.

Thanks for the comments, it's good to have fellow riders remind me, as footdragger put it, not to waste it.

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Wow. Quite the experience in modern medicine and old fashion (super)human resilience.

I know a lot about the process you went through to get where you are today. Congratulations sir!

It sure gives you perspective when you think about what you've been able to get through. I know when I'm feeling stressed, like I'm having a bad day, I just have to look in the mirror at some of my scars. That's an instant attitude adjustment!